Rob Payne

Where\'s My Newspaper

When I was 14, I got my first job doing a morning paper round. I spent two years waking up at the crack of dawn, going out in all weathers to ensure my neighbours could read the headlines with their breakfast. I’d heave the huge luminous orange bag onto the back of my trusty BMX and start my journey. At each house, I would carefully fold each publication and post it delicately through the customers’ letterbox, fearful that if the paper were to be damaged or in any way wet that I would not receive my all important Christmas bonus. Paper rounds in the US are a whole different kettle of fish. We are all familiar with the iconic American movie scenes in which a young teen rides around their neighbourhood hurling tightly rolled newspapers at the front steps of palatial clapperboard houses, often missing and the paper finding itself in the jaws of a dog, under a sprinkler or hidden in a flowerbed. This may feel like a stereotypical opportunity for filmic comedy, but it is actually the way things are still done over there. These images were taken in Merced, California and I was somehow touched by the rather lonely nature of the way these papers had been tossed or virtually discarded on various sidewalks in the most unceremonious way. I like how the pictures conjure up the contrasting Anglo and American cultures. The very British approach: neat, discreet and personal, which allows the recipient to collect their newspaper from his/her internal doorstep in private or the loud, proud American approach which involves the recipient having to make a public appearance in their pyjamas and slippers for all their neighbours to witness. These pictures show the newspapers in their various post-delivery resting places.